A Spark of Genius: America's Biggest Marijuana Resort to Open in South Dakota

Marijuana tourism is on the precipice of becoming big business in America, and a Native American tribe in South Dakota is hoping to up the ante with an ambitious new marijuana resort, set to open in early 2016.

Since Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana in 2014, tax dollars from the sale of the drug have flooded in and tourism has spiked—last year, Colorado saw tax revenue from tourism top one billion dollars for the first time. While these states have made strides to accommodate the influx of tourists, including a "Bud and Breakfast" in Denver, the Santee Sioux Indian tribe in South Dakota is aiming a bit, um, higher, with their marijuana resort set to open in early 2016. Tribal president Anthony Reider told the Associated Press that he wants the new resort to be "an adult playground," and promises that "there's nowhere else in America that has something like this."

The tribe has enlisted the help of Denver-based pot consulting firm Monarch America to churn out 30 different strains of the highest quality buds at their marijuana farm. According to Jonathan Hunt, VP and chief grower at Monarch, tribal leaders want to “show the state how clean, how efficient, how proficient, safe and secure this is as an operation.” The marijuana will be delivered straight to the smoking lounge of the soon-to-open property for a true farm-to-table or at least farm-to-easy-chair experience.

Aside from the large selection of boutique strains to be enjoyed in the lounge, the resort has something for every stoner, including arcade games, a nightclub, and food and drink service. Plans are underway to add slot machines and an outdoor music venue. The tribe, who already operate a successful casino on the reservation, seem to be trying to build the kind of basement clubhouse that high school burnouts dream of. Whether it will materialize into the pothead paradise they envision or go up in smoke remains to be seen.